Thumblenina’s Trudy Dress – Collar tutorial

Well if this isn’t just about the most overdue blog post ever, I don’t know what is. Last November I made up this sugar-sweet confection of a dress ahead of a day of pampering and photography up at Simple Sew HQ. The day was great fun – and a reminder (as if we needed one) of the jollity, humour and supportiveness of sewing peeps.

From that day onwards I’ve worn my (back-then) new Trudy dress to just about everything. I couldn’t get over having something that was so pretty but could still be worn with a vest and would keep me warm. The fabric is a wool blend from Sew Over It. It would be divine as a spring SOI Chloe Coat (they’ve released a new online course for this pattern). Anyway, back to Trudy – the dress is a breeze to sew as it’s unlined and the collar is just finished with a facing. My only comments would probably be to flag up that the cuffs are close-fitting but don’t have any openings; I suspect some people wouldn’t be comfortable with this. Also: the full-length sleeves are rather long; at times I felt like a pink check gorilla. And yet I still love it.

What you can’t of course see properly in these photographs is the pretty Peter Pan collar on this dress, which I chose to make in a contrasting white poplin. Anyway, here’s my trick for getting the pointiest of pointy corners on your collars, cuffs, bags etc. The red line represents the single strand of thread and it’s at 50% opacity when it’s meant to be underneath the fabric.

Cut a strand of medium-weight thread (I use top-stitching thread) about six inches long and set to one side.

Sew up to the corner and stop one stitch before where you intend to pivot, leaving the needle in the fabric.

Take your strand of thread and slide it in-between the two layers of your fabric at the corner until it hits the needle, with one end of the thread being pushed inside the layers of fabric to the left of the needle and the other lying outside the fabric across your machine to the right of the needle. The thread should make a V-shape with the point of the V being where the thread is pulled up against the needle.

Now make one single stitch; this should step over the strand of thread.

Turn the fabric as you would normally do, pivoting around the needle.

Leaving the left-hand end of the thread inside the layers of fabric, bring the right-hand end of the thread around the front of the needle and push it inside the layers to the left so the two ends of the thread are together.

Continue your stitching until finished.

Snip off excess fabric at the corner.

When you turn your corner the right way out, the two ends of the thread should appear and if you tug on them they will pull the corner through to perfection. Then you can simply pull one of the ends and the thread will come out.

Eh, voila, pointy points! I hope you find this helpful – it’s been a game-changer for me!

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BLOGGER OF THE WEEK

This week's Blogger of the Week is the fabulous Faye Ray Sews, who has already posted up two fabulous makes on the blog since joining the blogger team. Faye currently resides in Port Sunlight Village on the Wirral, and can usually be found in the lab, out on her motorbike or rattling away on her sewing machine!

As Faye explains, "Sewing has taught me that my 5’11” figure isn’t a hindrance, but a fabulous clothes hanger for all of my creations!" She's really made the most of her height with her fabulous Shannon Collection trousers and we love the 60's feel of her two stunning Trudy Dress makes too.

You can find Faye's makes over on the Simple Sew Blog and follow her on Instagram at @Fayeraysews